Married to the Billionaire Who Betrayed Me novel Chapter 58

Chapter 58 The Billionaire Crosses The Floor

“Mr. Johnston. You are blocking my exit.”

Tristan remained frozen in the alcove. The harsh lines of his face tightened. He searched my eyes, hunting for a fracture.

Marcus and Leo stepped forward. The bulk of their dark suits forced Tristan to shift his weight. A narrow gap opened between his

shoulder and the glass window.

I stepped through the gap. The fabric of my crimson blazer brushed his sleeve. I kept my gaze fixed straight ahead. I left him standing in the shadows and walked back into the blinding light of the grand atrium.

The conversations around me lacked discretion. The capital elite believed their wealth insulated them from consequences. They spoke with casual cruelty.

“She possesses monumental nerve showing her face here.”

“The Johnston PR team destroyed her a year ago. How did she secure manufacturing funding?”

“Aegis is a scam. She embezzled the start-up cash before Tristan fired her. The board covered it up to save face.”

“I heard Celeste Whitmore slapped her to the floor in front of five hundred people.”

“Just another discarded mistress trying to rebrand her image.”

I heard every word. The accusations floated through the air, toxic and sharp. Twelve months ago, those words possessed the power to shatter my spine. I cried on a bare mattress in Port Sterling. I starved to protect my unborn child from their reach.

Now, the insults bounced off my skin. I took a sip of the cold water. The ice grounded me. The opinions of strangers held zero currency in my world. They did not pay my warehouse lease. They did not feed Elias. The whispers sounded like the frantic buzzing of trapped insects.

I lowered my glass. A group of socialites and junior investors detached from the central bar. They moved toward me with synchronized purpose.

Valentina Rosales led the pack. She wore a plunging silver cocktail dress. She belonged to a legacy real estate family. She attended the Hawthorne Hotel gala last year. She stood in the front row of the ballroom and watched Celeste strike my cheek. She watched me bleed. She carried a flute of champagne and a malicious, practiced smile.

“Minerva Hayes,” Valentina drawled. She stopped three feet away. Her companions gathered behind her, eager for the bloodsport. “Or do you use a different name for your corporate filings these days?”

“Valentina,” I replied. I kept my tone flat. “I use the name printed on the keynote banner you stared at for the past thirty minutes.”

Valentina let out a high, artificial laugh. The sound grated against the ambient noise, of the room. “We assumed you fled the

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Chapter 58 The Billionaire Crosses The Floor

continent. The capital possesses zero tolerance for corporate espionage. Tristan Johnston issued clear statements regarding your theft. It requires a specific type of woman to steal proprietary data from her employer and crash his engagement party.”

I observed the tension in her neck. I noted the white-knuckle grip she maintained on her crystal flute. She intended to tear me

down to elevate her own status in the room. She wanted to prove her superiority to her peers.

“It requires a specific type of woman to repeat stale tabloid gossip because she lacks original business strategy,” I countered.

The words struck hard. Valentina’s smile faltered.

“The Johnston Group released official press documents, Valentina hissed. Her voice lost the bored, aristocratic drawl. “You are a liability. Alexander Redford might humor your little presentation, but no real investor in this room will touch Aegis. You carry the

stench of a scandal. You are tainted.”

“Aegis generated its initial manufacturing cost in four hours,” I stated. I did not raise my voice. The surrounding crowd stopped talking. The nearby executives turned their heads to listen. “We operate with zero debt. We possess a dedicated, insulated supply chain. You manage your father’s real estate portfolio and report a net loss for the third consecutive quarter. I am a liability to obsolete distribution models. You are a liability to your own family.”

A collective intake of breath sounded from her companions.

Valentina flushed a deep, ugly crimson. Her eyes burned with humiliated rage.

“You are nothing but a discarded whore playing dress-up,” Valentina spat.

I stepped forward. I closed the distance between us in a single movement.

Valentina took a reflexive step backward. Her stiletto heel caught on the polished marble floor. She stumbled. Her arm jerked. The champagne spilled over the rim of her glass, splashing a dark, wet stain down the front of her silver dress.

“I am a CEO,” I corrected. The air in the atrium felt frozen. “I built an empire from concrete while you drank champagne on your father’s yacht. If you slander my company in a public forum again, I will bypass the insults. I will instruct my legal team to freeze your trust fund through targeted defamation suits. Clean your dress, Valentina. You look desperate.”

I turned my back on her.

I walked away from the group.

I proved my willingness to fight. I demonstrated my capacity to draw blood in their own arena.

I continued to navigate the room. I refused to let the confrontation derail my objective. I approached a group of logistics magnates near the eastern windows. I discussed the fluctuating costs of diesel fuel. I debated the merits of unionized transport fleets. I handed out my stark black business cards to heavy industry leaders who previously ignored the cosmetics sector.

A boutique owner from the northern district approached me. We discussed chemical engineering. We discussed the specific melting points of the Aegis foundation formulas. I engaged the negotiations. I pushed the memories of the Johnston scandal into a locked

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Chapter 58 The Billionaire Crosses The Floor

vault in my mind. I operated in my element.

I checked the simple gold watch on my wrist. The time read eight in the evening. Elias was asleep in his crib. Lucia had engaged the

security alarms. My fortress held strong. The knowledge fortified my endurance.

I finished a conversation with a packaging supplier. I turned toward the center of the room to locate a fresh glass of water.

A strange sensation pressed against the base of my spine. A primal instinct wanted me of an approaching threat. The ambient noise

level in the atrium dropped a second time.

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